


A Stranger Sings

by FangirlFiles



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Anxiety having anxiety, Apartment Life, M/M, Singing, human!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 02:11:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11326491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangirlFiles/pseuds/FangirlFiles
Summary: Anxiety feels himself starting to lose control, until a stranger from the apartment next door starts singing. Human!AU





	A Stranger Sings

Anxiety tossed his keys on the table and locked the door behind him. He turned on the lights and the small apartment flickered to life. He really needed to clean. But even with the mess scattered around the room, he felt relief sink into his skin. Sighing, he made his way into the bedroom and flopped himself face first onto the bed. It had been an unnecessarily long day and he was intensely glad to be finished with it.

The bed creaked as he rolled over to stare at the ceiling. He really should have left the lights off, it was unlikely that he would be getting up to turn them off before falling asleep. There goes more money toward his power bill. He just had to get through this week, then he would have the money and everything would be fine. Though with the way his day had gone, he may not have that job much longer. His manager hated him, his coworkers hated him, but worst of all he hated the job.

He worked at the local Denny’s bussing tables. It was horribly cliche and that haunted him every day. He was broke and working a dead end job at a diner. Classic. At least he could appreciate the irony. But cliche or not, it really only barely paid the bills. He was living paycheck to paycheck with student loans from a wasted degree and barely enough left over to buy food.

Just the thought of his situation made his stomach feel heavy. He felt jittery but far too tired to move, like he was crashing after too much caffeine--even though he couldn’t drink coffee without it inducing a panic attack of cosmic proportions. He pressed the palms of his hands firmly against his eyes, causing galaxies of black and yellow to swirl in the deep red of his vision. He was shaking, he realized. An attack was on it’s way if he didn’t do anything to stop it, and he really didn’t have the energy for it. He had just finished a closing shift and he had to open far too early in the morning. He held his breath for a moment in hopes of slowing his rapidly increasing heart rate, but no luck.

Grounding. That’s what he needed to do. He had learned it online in one of his late night Tumblr scrolling sessions. He opened his eyes, watching as his vision slowly shifted from a greenish hue back to normal.

“Alright,” he whispered to himself. His voice shook. “Five things you can see.”

He looked around the room, scanning for the most notable things. He had to remind himself to just pick anything, whatever caught his eye first.

Desk.

Poster.

Lamp.

Curtains.

Bills.

He groaned. That last one certainly didn’t help anything at all. He could feel himself getting hotter, a pressure building up inside of him that could only be released through tears and deep, suffocating sobs. He had to stop this before it got worse, this was ridiculous.

“Four things you can feel.” He let out a slow, heavy sigh.

Sheets.

Pillow.

The cold of his hoodie zipper against his hips.

A slight breeze through his badly sealed window.

Again, he was always going back to the bad things, the ones that would just fill him with more dread. He sat up in bed, wrapping his arms around his head and gripping his hair tightly in his fingers. He pressed his forehead into his raised knees, pulling himself into a ball.

“Three things you can hear.”

Nothing. The room was silent. He shook his head in frustration. This wouldn’t work if he got stuck there, but he really couldn’t hear anything--until a muffled shuffling came from the apartment next door. He listened with everything that he had, breathing as lightly as he could.

Footsteps.

The creaking of another bed through the wall directly behind his head.

Anxiety lifted his head and closed his eyes, focusing. There was a male voice, quiet but solid, singing a ballad that he didn’t recognize. He quickly turned around and pressed his ear against the wall. He listened intently to the rising and falling of the melody, the gentle crescendos and decrescendos, and the almost floating rhythm. He felt his heart slow, and his breathing even out. He stared at the wall extending out in his vision, eyeing the bumps of the drywall and letting his focus shift from far away to directly in front of his face and back again. He felt light and almost peaceful.

And then it stopped. He let out a sigh of disappointment and sat back onto his bed. Nothing had ever been able to calm his attacks so easily. Something so simple, so accidental, had left him feeling calmer than ever. He stood and changed into his pajamas before shutting off the lights in his apartment. For the first time in a long time, he would go to sleep without kicking himself for not doing something that he knew he should have.

He climbed into bed, feeling the weight of the comforter and the softness of his pillow. This was a good night, he decided.

\--

Anxiety threw his keys on the table and locked the door behind him. Another rough day. Angry customers, angry co workers, and him, angry at himself. He was exhausted after waking up so early and all he wanted was to eat a late lunch.

A knock on the door spoiled his plans, and he groaned as he went to answer it. He looked through the peephole and saw a man around his own age, elegantly dressed and with perfectly styled hair. His expression was friendly, yet impatient. Anxiety reluctantly opened the door.

"Hello! My name is Roman, and I'm your new neighbor. I just moved in yesterday." He extended a hand outward, smiling widely.

Anxiety recognized that voice instantly. He hesitated, staring dumbly and making a fool of himself.

Roman's hand dropped slowly, smile faltering. "Well, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'll leave you to... whatever you were doing."

"Wait!" Anxiety exclaimed louder than he had expected. "You were the one singing last night?"

"Oh, yes that was probably me. Was I too loud? I'm sorry, I didn't realize the walls were so thin."

"No, no! I just- you can- I... I really enjoyed it. Actually." Anxiety tugged at the sleeve of his hoodie, staring at the ground. He had hoped to hear the singing again tonight, but now that was probably out of the question.

"Well thank you! I appreciate the compliment." Roman laughed and ran a hand through his hair. Frustratingly, every lock still fell perfectly afterward. Anxiety would kill for hair like that. "What was your name?"

"Um, my name is Anxiety. It's odd, I know but that's just... what people call me..." He trailed off awkwardly. This was going horribly.

"It was wonderful meeting you, Anxiety. I should be going, I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I hope to be seeing you around," he said with a quick wave as he turned on his heel and left. Well that was a whirlwind of a hello.

Anxiety was left standing awkwardly in his doorway, dumbstruck. Roman had come and gone so quickly, and he was still reeling about what had just happened. He couldn’t help but feel like a part of him had left with the stranger. He just hoped that he would sing again that night and keep his panic at bay. One could only hope.

Roman wouldn’t disappoint.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little thing I wrote while struggling with writer's block from my other story, Aches and Pains. Hope this can tide you over until I get the next chapter of that story out!!  
> Thanks for reading, please do leave a comment telling me what you think <3


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